


I L L U S I O N // Larry Stylinson

by larrystyliusou



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: 1d, Fluff and Smut, Hazza, M/M, Smut, Tommo - Freeform, harry - Freeform, harrystyles, larries, larry - Freeform, larry smut, louis - Freeform, louistomlinson - Freeform, onedirection
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-14
Updated: 2018-07-14
Packaged: 2019-06-10 11:34:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,921
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15290649
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/larrystyliusou/pseuds/larrystyliusou
Summary: Louis, a softhearted man dealing with consistent insomnia and worsening mental health. He often pushes his issues away and tries to justify why he shouldn't get help. But when his sleeping issues turn into sleep paralysis,  things don't seem to add up.* If you prefer I also posted this to wattpad: https://www.wattpad.com/story/155019473-i-l-l-u-s-i-o-n-larry-stylinson *





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> this story may include the following triggers: suicidal thoughts, mental illness, sexual themes.

A soft stream of moonlight illuminated Louis's small room, the few things he owned partially visible in veiled darkness. He let out a soft breath, begging for relief from his incessant insomnia. He had grown to despise sleeping and often avoided it until it was inevitable. It had been a few days since Louis drifted into a deep enough sleep to call it healthy. His body was running on fumes at this point and he felt crippled with exhaustion physically; how was he supposed to function? Louis scheduled an appointment to get sleeping pills, it felt like he had tried every natural remedy he could have at this point. He practically couldn't wait for the appointment but, of course, the small clinic was busy and he had a few days of hellish half-sleep left. An unsteady hand ran through his soft wisps of light chocolate locks; dark marks were clear beneath his blue eyes from lack of sleep.

Caffeine, the only thing keeping Louis from a catatonic state at this point, or at least in his mind. He rolled over a few times, trying to find a comfortable position before settling into a soft spot. Finally, after hours of restlessness he was able to drift off. The first few hours slipped by, his body adoring the much-needed rest, until he found himself in a situation he had never experienced. Louis felt as though his arms and body were being entirely pinned down, unable to move an inch. The only thing he could wonder was, _'Have I been drugged?'_ His heart raced and his eyes darted around but the darkness made it difficult to see anything.

 _Hello? 'A voice... who's there?'_ Louis couldn't make a noise, frozen still in what felt like a nightmare _._  Then, just as suddenly as it started he woke up, or at least that's how it felt. He woke up in a cold sweat, fear pumping through his veins. Louis scrambled to sit upright and reached to turn on his lamp on the nightstand. The light illuminated his room to reveal nothing, it was just the same as it always was. His small hands were shaking uncontrollably and Louis decided he needed to get out of his room for a while. By now he had only been asleep for about three and a half hours and he felt uneasy. Suddenly he felt ill and ran to his toilet, throwing up only bile as he hadn't eaten much. He didn't understand why the sudden nausea had come on but he knew he wasn't the easiest on his body so it wasn't entirely shocking.

Louis grabbed a glass of water to wash out the terrible acidic taste from his mouth. He muttered a, "Fuck" in frustration and disgust. He lived alone so he had no one to discuss what had just happened. Louis had never experienced the feeling he just felt... why couldn't he move? Why did he feel so  _uncomfortable_  and most important of all, had someone been  _inside_  his  _house_? Louis immediately checked all the doors and windows to make sure they were closed and locked—they were. A chill ran down his spine and he decided to take a walk to shake the nerves off. Louis's neighborhood was a sanctuary of white picket fences and bland, generic families, so he never felt unsafe walking around at night.

The summer night was warm, humidity clinging to the fresh air from the storm that just passed. He inhaled deeply, trying to calm his shaky breaths. Louis decided to stop at the park near his residence, deciding he needed to call  _someone_  before he went back in there. He dialed his sister knowing she would still be awake, "Hey... so... something really messed up just happened." Louis continued to explain what happened before Lottie brought up something he had never heard of, "Sleep... paralysis?" His brows furrowed in confusion, wondering to himself, ' _How could it have been a dream if it felt so real?'_  Once he had calmed down a little he muttered farewell to his sister and began walking back towards his home. Now he definitely wouldn't be able to go back to sleep but he was glad he had someone to vent to.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this story may include the following triggers: suicidal thoughts, mental illness, sexual themes.

**_The Next Morning..._ **

Louis didn't sleep for the rest of the night, his eyes weighed down with dark bags and his body drooped over in fatigue. He huffed, he was used to being tired but he had never been  _nervous_  about it. Louis did some deep searching on the internet to learn as much as he could about sleep paralysis; many people claimed it often felt very realistic and terrifying. He felt reassured knowing the voice was a figment of his wild imagination but apprehensive at the thought of it reoccurring. Louis ended up accidentally falling asleep for a half an hour on the couch and was relieved when nothing happened. He still felt sleepy when he woke up but it helped a little. The rest of his day was taken up with a shift at the local coffee shop and various errands he had procrastinated to the last moment. Overall it was a pretty common day for Louis and as the sun started to set so did his relaxed nature.

A feeling of dread ran through his body and it felt like someone was watching him. Louis, exhausted from lack of sleep and at the end of his rope hollered into his empty house, "Who is in my house? Who  _are_  you? I  _know_  you're in here." As expected there was no response and he felt foolish for believing there might be. Perhaps his brain was playing tricks on him, he wondered, glancing around anxiously. The air became ice cold around him and his eyes grew wide when he realized there were no vents nearby. "What the fuck?" he muttered under his breath, still glancing around him frantically. A chill ran over his spine, senses on fire but just as soon as it had began, the cold air dissipated. Louis felt completely unsettled, he  _knew_  he didn't imagine that... did he?

Frantic, he decided to ring his sister once more, his fingers barely able to press the screen, he was frightened. Louis stumbled outside hastily, trepidation filling his soul at the thought of spending one more moment in his flat alone. Lottie was, as per usual, incredibly empathetic and generous; she offered to take him in for the night but he wasn't so sure. What if it truly was a spirit and it started to harass his sister? Plus Doris and Ernest were there and there was  _no chance_  he would agree to bring something harmful around them. Louis politely declined, pondering to himself,  _'What the fuck am I supposed to do now?_ ' He debated whether he should use some of his money he saved up on the side but ultimately surrendered to his logic. After a few full cigarettes and about forty minutes of fighting with himself internally, Louis forced himself to make his way back into his home.

As he walked through his space cautiously nothing seemed to have been tampered with. Again Louis found himself questioning if the happenings were just figments of his imagination from numerous sleepless nights. He anxiously paced around his flat, making sure no one was inside and all the windows were locked. There was a feeling of uneasiness surging through the air but he couldn't understand why? Louis was so fatigued at this point, he actually felt capable of drifting off, even with the impending possibility of danger. He wasn't sure if he even cared about being murdered at this point, his depressive thoughts snowballing further each day. Usually it starts with something simple, a silly blunder, a slip of the tongue but Louis internalizes that embarrassment and he always has. When he can't find proper ways to release his stress he often becomes self-destructive.

Louis let out a soft huff, trying his hardest to refrain but he began to cry, soft whimpers escaping his lips. Terrible memories began flashing through his thoughts, his body shaking as the first waves of a panic attack hit. Louis always tried his best to make others happy and it's always taken a toll on his sanity. Louis walked over to his kitchen, trembling and breathing erratically, before slumping down on the floor. He felt out of control; his chest was tight, his heart was racing and he was sweating like crazy, not to mention the tears flowing down his reddened cheeks. Louis was a mess and he needed someone but his irrational thinking made it impossible to pick up the phone. He was never so emotional, even when he was at his most exhausted; maybe it was because he had been bottling it up or... maybe there was a different aura to the house? Nothing made sense and Louis was defeated.

For the rest of the day he moped miserably, avoiding any human contact and just trying to keep himself awake. By the time the sun was setting he was nodding off every five minutes and Louis knew he couldn't fight any longer. He dragged himself towards his bedroom, relieved when his figure finally hit the bed. Surprisingly he didn't have too difficult of a time drifting off, unlike so many other times lately. Louis's body relaxed as he fell into a deeper slumber, his soft features looked angelic in the pale moonlight. Suddenly a familiar horror washed over his whole body as he awoke, unable to move once more. His body was paralyzed and he felt so helpless as he lay there, aware of  _everything_. Louis realized he would have frozen regardless as soon as he noticed that there was a dark figure in the corner of his room.

Panic set in, he felt the urge to run as the adrenaline began to pump through his veins. It only became worse when he heard the person say,  _"Hey... can you hear me?"_ The voice was faint, it sounded further off than it possibly should have been. He couldn't speak but even if he could he wouldn't know how to react.  _"Louis..."_ When he heard his name his heart sunk, how did this intruder know his name? Was this all just another dream? A massive knot formed in his stomach, anxiety over-powering his thoughts. Louis could recognize that it was a male voice and that he was English but that was all—it wasn't someone's voice that remembered hearing before.  _"You look so sad..."_ Louis tried to make a noise, any noise, but nothing came out.

The figure was at his bedside now, so close, he could start to see the details of the tall-framed man. It was bizarre, like a weird gaseous overlay effect on a vague projection of a person—extremely difficult to identify but still somehow recognizable as human. Louis was beyond confused, unable to believe this was reality at this point. He knew that he had read something about how you can hallucinate during sleep paralysis but this all felt  _so_  realistic. The figure reached out with a dark hand and touched his face... he could  _feel_ the cold hand against his skin. Louis woke up, launching himself into a sitting position he was so shaken. He didn't even take a moment to process what happened, he flicked his light on swiftly and, again, there was no one around. The same endless feeling of anxiety enveloped him again, feeling as if this might never end.


End file.
